In store now! Diary of a Madman and Other Stories, by Nikolay Gogol
Born in what we now know as Ukraine, Nikolay Gogol is perhaps the greatest writer of short stories to have emerged since the form began. This collection, which features some of his best work (including ‘The Nose’, ‘The Overcoat,’ and the eponymous ‘Diary of a Madman’), read like immaculately constructed fables examining the place of the individual within history, class consciousness, and raise meaningful questions about our ideas of spirituality.
Unlike the social and psychological realism of Russian authors of the era such as Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, these stories have the tone of the obscure, and the surreal, and anticipate the work of Franz Kafka more clearly than they evoke any typically Russian author. Indeed, Gogol’s ‘Diary of a Madman’ anticipates Dostoyevsky’s ‘Notes from Underground’ by 30 years!
Nevertheless, his descriptions of a society governed by rampant bureaucracy and poisoned by corruption ring as alarmingly true as they did in pre-Revolution Russia.
Aside from being a fascinating insight to the cultural relationship between Russia and Ukraine, Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is among the best works of literature ever written.
Order your copy today directly through October Books or buy online through our bookshop store and we’ll get a commission on your purchase.
Diary of a Madman by Nikolay Gogol
Paperback £8.99
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